Harish Pillai, Dept. of Electrical Engg, IIT Bombay Gopal R. Patil, Dept. of Civil Engg.

, IIT Bombay
National Workshop on Intelligent Transportation System, Pune June 26, 2010

Real-time traffic counting and monitoring system use traffic detectors Many traffic detecting technologies commercially available Some technologies suitable for temporary counting and some for permanent installation

Traffic detectors can be

In-roadways: embedded in the pavement or placed on the road surface (Eg. Inductance loops) Over-roadways: above the pavement or alongside of the roadway (Eg. Video cameras)

Technology selection also depends on the type of output required Traffic detectors can output

Unclassified traffic count Classified traffic volume Speed Density Weight

Primary parameters for all transportation planning and traffic management studies Record traffic trend and traffic variations (hourly, daily, weekly, seasonal) and forecast future traffic At actuated traffic signals Area traffic control (SCOOT, SCAT, etc) Variable message sign (VMS) Ramp metering Dynamic route guidance
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In-roadway detectors

Inductive loop detectors Magnetic sensors Pneumatic tubes Piezoelectric sensors

Over-roadway detectors
Video image processors Microwave radar sensor Infrared sensors

Laser radar sensors Ultrasonic sensors Radio frequency identification (RFID) tags Global positioning system (GPS)

Principles of Operation
when a vehicles tires pass over the tube, the sensors send a burst of air pressure along a rubber tube The pulse of air pressure closes an air switch, producing an electrical signal that is transmitted to a counter or analysis software Vehicle classification by axle count and spacing , used for short-term traffic counting,

Pros: quick installation, low power usage, low cost

and simple to maintain

Cons: inaccurate axle counting, temperature

sensitivity of the air switch, not suitable for permanent counting system

Uses 2 or 4 road tubes for traffic data collection Data for volume, class, speed and gap USB port for downloading data

Principles of Operation

Piezoelectric materials are capable of converting kinetic energy to electric energy, thus the mechanical impact and vibration generated due to a vehicle is converted to a voltage The measured voltage is proportional to the force or weight of the vehicle Output: vehicle classification, weight, speed, and gap

Pros: high accuracy in classification because the output signals are proportional to the tire pressure Cons: disruption to traffic during installation and repair, sensitive to pavement temperature and vehicle speed

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Principles of operation: Magnetic sensors (Magnetometer)

is used to detect the perturbation in the in the earths magnetic field caused by the presence of vehicle Output: count and speed

Pros: Insensitive to

inclement weather such as snow, rain, and fog

Cons: difficult to
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detect stopped vehicles

Principles of Operation

An overhead antenna transmits energy toward an area of the roadway When a vehicle passes through the antenna beam, a portion of the transmitted energy is reflected back towards the antenna Classified volume, speed, occupancy, and length are calculated
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Source: FHWA Report (2007)

Pros: insensitive to inclement weather; provides a

direct measurement of speed; multiple lane operation available

Cons: continuous wave Doppler sensors cannot

detect stopped vehicles
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Principles of Operation

Detects the change in temperature due to vehicle presence

Pros: Multiple lane operation possible, accurate

from sunlight

measurement of vehicle position, speed, and class

Cons: Operation may be affected by fog and glint

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Principles of Operation

Transmit pressure waves of sound energy The received ultrasonic energy is converted into electrical energy that is analyzed by signal processing electronics Operate with pulse waveforms and provide vehicle count, presence, and occupancy information

Pros: multiple lane operation, capable of over-height

vehicle detection

Cons: Temperature change and extreme air turbulence

may affect the performance

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Principles of Operation
Detect vehicles by analyzing the imagery from a traffic scene to determine changes between successive frames Vehicle presence is identified by noting changes in the pixels caused by the vehicle relative to the roadway in the absence of a vehicle Traffic flow parameters are calculated by analyzing successive video frames

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Can output presence, classification, speed Pros: Monitors multiple lanes; Rich array of data available; Provides wide-area detection; easy to add or modify detection zones Cons: Performance affected by many factors including fog, rain, snow, vehicle shadows, day to night transition; high installation and maintenance cost

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Consists of

Inductive loop Loop extension cable Detector module

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Based on the principle of Inductance, the property of a wire to induce current in adjacent conductive media The current I in the loop wire creates a magnetic field around the wire H=NI/L H=magnetic field N=No. of turns I=current L=loop length
Magnetic flux around loop
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Magnetic field induces current in the metallic parts of the vehicle Generates another magnetic field in the vehicle Opposes loop magnetic field Decreases total magnetic field Loop inductance decreases Decrease in loop inductance indicates the presence of the vehicle

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Loop inductance decreases when a car is on top of it.

Inductance 0 Time
Source: Steve Muench, CEE 320 lectures, University of Washington
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T = ton

ton

T = toff
toff

Algorithm for processing signatures and classifying vehicles

Representative vehicle signatures

Source: FHWA
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Output: presence, classification, speed, gap Pros: Mature, well understood technology, flexible
design, insensitive to inclement weather, high accuracy

Cons: Installation requires pavement cut, wire loops

are subject to stresses of traffic and temperature.

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Electronics unit

Controller cabinet 12 ft 3 ft 6 ft 3 ft lead-in conduit

Pull box Conduit-to-curb run

Roadway centerline

Loop sawcut plan Roadway section 3 turns

Shielded lead-in cable

Splice in pullbox

Loop wire plan

Twisted wire to suppress electrical interference 24

REAL-TIME TRAFFIC COUNTING AND MONITORING SYSTEM

Research Team IIT Bombay: Tom Mathew, Harish Pillai, Gopal R. Patil, Subhashis C-DAC: Ravi Kumar
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Goal: to develop a real time road traffic counting, classifying, and analyzing system along with monitoring of the traffic Objectives
Customizing the Loop detectors for Vehicle count in Indian traffic condition which is heterogeneous and with limited lane discipline Exploring the efficacy of video-image processing to detect, count, classify, and determine the speed of the vehicles

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Loop Detector LD400

Four channel inductive loop detector Used for vehicle counting, not classification Locally available for about Rs. 10,000/It is connected to an inductive loop mounted in the road surface When vehicles pass over the loop, it switches on an output Provides pulse output

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Stores vehicle by vehicle data for length, speed, classification, gap, number of axles, etc Classifies up to 24 types of vehicle Data is stored on a compact flash memory card It can store vehicle signature Classifier Front view Supplier: RTEM, UK

Classifier rear view

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A two-lane undivided white topping concrete road in Mulund, Mumbai Loop Layout plan

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Site for field installation: two lane undivided asphalt road inside IIT Bombay campus All formalities are completed for field installation inside Installation will be done within a week from now

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Installing SP4 classifier on Jogeshwari Vikroli link road (JVLR), the third most important corridor in Mumbai Customization of detectors
Development of loop simulator Cross verification with field data Experimental runs to obtain optimal loop layout Development of vehicle count and classification algorithms

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Thanks to DIT for funding this project

Questions??? Comments???

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2 Modules

loop detector based vehicle count and classification system, and an online monitoring system vehicle detection from video data and data analysis and online display system

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detectors for count and classification Customization of best technologies for mixed traffic management Database archival and retrieval algorithms Web interface with congestion mapping

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Video image processing for vehicle presence detection and other purposes Cameras placed atop to overlook lanes Video from the monitoring camera forms the input Detecting and localizing image in the successive frames Image processing algorithms to estimate traffic flow parameters by analyzing successive video frames Tracking of vehicle is done for surveillance, vehicle monitoring etc
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